1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telephone communications and more particularly to terminal equipment operated by a user to obtain a variety of telephone services.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, computer-based telephone management systems have been developed in which the computer itself provides the human interface to the telephone system. Such systems typically offer a host of services which replace or supplant the services provided by conventional, standalone telephone terminal equipment such as telephone station sets and facsimile machines. By adding suitable software and interface hardware, such as a data/voice/fax modem, an existing personal computer can be readily converted into a powerful communications tool for establishing conventional voice lines and for sending and receiving facsimile images and data files. Frequently, when the personal computer is coupled to a local area network, shared communications facilities can be made available via the network, eliminating the need for additional telephone interface hardware at each personal computer.
While robust telephone management and communications functions can be provided using the personal computer as the telephone terminal, users have found these systems to be difficult to use. Thus, while a given personal computer telephone management system might include a stored database of telephone numbers which can be activated and then manipulated using the computer keyboard or the mouse to select and automatically dial a desired telephone number, it is often faster and easier to simply look the number up in a published directory and then manually dial the number in the usual way. As software developers add an ever expanding set of features to such computer telephone management systems, such systems necessarily become more complex and more difficult to use, particularly for functions with are infrequently invoked. It is thus an object of the invention to provide an easy-to-use user interfact to the complex features of modern telephone systems and thereby to make these features truly accessible to the average user.